


The Little Genius

by Jorelys



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 12:25:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13880829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jorelys/pseuds/Jorelys
Summary: Once upon a time, there lived a little genius who thought he knew everything, until he realized he didn't.





	The Little Genius

Once upon a time, there lived a little genius who thought he knew everything, and a little peasant. Both lived in a small house in the countryside, and while the little genius spent all his days and nights reading inside in his chair, the little peasant harvested the fields surrounding the house. They met every evening around the dinner table.  
Every day, the little peasant would ask, "So, what did you learn today?"  
And the little genius would respond "I learned everything there is to know about the solar system. I will learn something new tomorrow."  
And the next day, the little peasant would ask, "So, what did you learn today?"  
And the little genius would answer "I learned everything there is to know about bees. I will learn something new tomorrow."  
And on and on it went, until one day, the little peasant asked "So, what did you learn today?"  
And the little genius answered "I know everything. There is nothing left for me to learn."  
"Oh," the little peasant said, very surprised, "you will help me harvest the crops tomorrow, then?"  
And the little genius, who was way too fond of himself, said, "Of course not. I am far too clever to harvest the crops with you. I will go into town and see if I can find anything interesting."  
The little peasant said nothing, but he went to bed early that night.

When the little genius woke up the next day, the little peasant was already out. He prepared his bindle and left for town. There, he found a market and when he saw someone selling honey, he asked, "Is there anything you can teach me about bees ?"  
And the woman answered, "What do you want to know?"  
And the little genius said, "Something I don't know."  
And the woman said, "What do you know?"  
And the little genius said, "Everything."  
So the woman answered, "Then there is nothing I can teach you. Would you like some honey ?"  
The little genius bought a jar of honey and went on. And at every stall he stopped, he asked to be taught, but nobody had anything to teach him that he didn't already know. Up until he met with an old blind woman who pretended to see the future. The little genius, who thought he knew everything, even the future, asked "Old woman, is there anything you know that I don't?"  
"Little genius," she said, "you know nothing of life."  
And the little genius, vexed, said : "I know everything!"  
"Answers are not to be found in books," she said, "but in the world."  
And she left.  
The little genius went back home and sat at the dinner table. The little peasant asked nothing of him, and he asked nothing out of the little peasant, lost in thought about what the old woman had said. 

The next day, the little genius packed his bindle and left.  
He walked for days, searching for answers without knowing where to look. One day, he ended up near the sea. He kneeled on the shore and asked, "Will you give me some of your water so I can find answers?"  
And the sea said: "The salt will burn you throat. You are looking in the wrong place."  
So the little genius ran to the forest and asked for roots. And the trees said, "You were never meant to stay in one place. You are looking in the wrong place."  
So he ran to the volcano and asked for heat, but the volcano said, "No human has ever survived my touch. You are looking in the wrong place."  
So he ran to the sun and asked for light, but the sun said, "My light will make you blind. You are looking in the wrong place."  
And the little genius, who was very tired, decided to go back home.  
There, he knocked, and the little peasant opened the door. He looked sad and tired and angry, and he said nothing. So the little genius reached out into his bag and brought out a jar of honey and said, "I brought honey, I know you like it. I'm sorry. I will harvest the crops with you tomorrow." 

The following day, when the little peasant was still outside and the little genius was preparing diner, a knock came at the door. It was the old blind woman from the market, and she asked, "Did you find answers?"  
And the little genius said, "I have stopped looking."  
The old woman disappeared.

A few weeks later, after a long day of work harvesting the crops, someone knocked at the door while the little genius and the little peasant were having dinner. The little genius opened the door and found the old lady there again, and she asked "Did you find answers?"  
And the little genius remained silent for a moment. Then, he looked over his shoulder towards the kitchen, where the little peasant was eating toast and honey with a soft smile on his face and rays of gold in his hair. He turned back to the lady and he said, "I think I have. You were right," for the little genius had realized that not everything was to be found in books.

The old woman smiled fondly and said, "Little genius, I am giving you a gift for I can see the future, and I can see you shall become the greatest mind that ever lived," and she left.  
He didn't understand what she meant, until he went to sleep that night and found on his bed a book without end.


End file.
